The ruling is one of a series of court actions in similar disputes around the nation. Most courts have ruled in favor of allowing the anti-abortion message, including a federal judge last week who ordered the state of Missouri to issue license plates bearing the "Choose Life" motto. But another federal appeals court overturned a South Carolina law that expressly allowed the anti-abortion theme on license plates but did not authorize similar plates for advocates of the right to abortion.

Today's ruling is binding on federal judges in nine Western states, including California. No such case is pending in California, where the Legislature has not responded to a request by abortion opponents to authorize a similar specialty plate, said Jeffrey Schafer, lawyer for the Arizona Life Coalition.

Today's ruling, Schafer said, shows that "when the state opens the door, generally, for private organizations to speak, its bureaucrats may not slam the door in the face of pro-life speakers or others that it may seek to censor simply because of the viewpoint of the speaker."

There was no immediate comment from the state's lawyers.

The Arizona Life Coalition, which claims 100,000 members in 40 organizations, applied in 2002 for a license plate that would display the "Choose Life" slogan with a picture of two children's faces. Specialty plates are available for a fee, which is shared by the state and the sponsoring organization.

Members of the state commission rejected the coalition's application, saying they didn't want to become embroiled in the abortion debate and were concerned that people would conclude the state had endorsed the anti-abortion message.

A federal judge ruled in Arizona's favor, saying a message on a state-issued license plate is a form of communication by the government, which is entitled to control its content. But the appeals court, in a 3-0 ruling, said the message is private speech by the organization that sponsored the specialty plate and by the owner of the vehicle.

That means the government can't deny an application just because it objects to the viewpoint of the message, the court said.

The License Plate Commission "clearly denied the application based on the nature of the message," Judge Richard Tallman said in the court opinion.

He said the commission's job was limited to deciding whether groups meet the legal guidelines for specialty plates. That means deciding whether the sponsoring organization serves the community, is not "offensive or discriminatory in its purpose," and does not promote a religious message, Tallman said.

The Life Coalition met those criteria by providing evidence of its community and charitable work, Tallman said.